Nothing to Fear
by ScareyQuinette
Summary: What happened to the Scarecrow after Rachel hit him with her tazer? Short drabble.


'Hold still.'

Somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, Crane was aware that someone had stopped his hellbeast, seizing it by the reins and coercing it into submission. He was vaguely aware of the fingers pulling at the tattered straightjacket that hung off of him, tugging the tazer pins from his skin. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the shadows shifting and contorting into horrific figures. What he was most aware of though, was the fact that his mask was missing.

'Scarecrow!' He hissed, lashing out at the form to his side but finding they were too quick for him.

'Alright, alright.'

The mask was flung over his face with little care, the gaps for his eyes not quite lined up right, leaving him in darkness. Not that he cared. Life behind the mask was comforting, fearless. Even in the dark, Crane was not alone or afraid when he was under the burlap sack.

'We can't stay here, it's too exposed.'

Crane's head snapped up, the mask dropping into place. He stared at his new companion, waiting for the visions to ebb enough for him to see her clearly. While the toxin had not worn off, its effects were less intense than when the Batman had first gassed him and he was adapting to seeing through the smog, differentiating reality from hallucination. It was taxing, and it mattered very little now. The Narrows were overrun with his poison - hallucinations were as good as reality now for everyone stuck on the Island.

'Come on, we need to go.'

Her voice was level. Her hands didn't shake. She was _calm_. Crane lunged forward, stopping just inches from her face but she barely flinched.

'This town has lost its mind. _Why aren't you screaming_?'

'You think you're the only person in Gotham with a gas mask?' Came her reply, accompanied by a scathing smile. 'When you move to a town like this one, you come prepared. And when the country's most infamous insane asylum sees a mass-breakout and its administrator is arrested, followed closely by a series of gas explosions? Well, then you don't feel so silly for keeping an emergency kit in your office.'

Crane didn't understand. He _couldn't_ understand. Even without his toxin, she should be scared of the chaos he had unleashed. The madmen tearing the Island apart who had suddenly become even more unhinged should have been enough to reduce this little girl to tears, but she was as far from terrified as someone could be in the circumstances.

He reached out, seizing her by the throat. Almost at once, the toxin turned her hair into a tangle of snakes but her gorgon eyes flashed at him defiantly.

'Dare ya.'

'I am the Scarecrow. All should cower before me!'

She laughed, a demon's cackle that cut through the sounds of the Island tearing itself to shreds. It echoed through Crane's mind, amplifying until it was almost deafening, the first chair in an orchestra of every mocking giggle he had ever suffered through. Letting go of her throat, he clasped his hands over his ears in a fruitless attempt to make the shrieks stop.

When silence washed back over him, Crane found that she was holding his hand, a patient look on her face. It should have been comforting, but it sickened him and he snatched his hand away, glaring down at her through the mask.

'There is only one man on this earth I would cower from,' she told him, her voice firm. 'And he just left me to be eaten alive in this place. A coward. I'm scared of a coward, Crane, but I won't be scared of a man with a sack over his head.'

Crane's fingers twitched to grab her again, but something held him back; something in the resolute look in her eye that broke through the shadows that crept around her. She was truly not afraid. He could not govern her.

'Then go,' he hissed, 'go and face the Narrows unafraid.'

'Why would I do a thing like that? You're my best chance of living through this. The Batman's already on the Island. Everyone will be 'fixed' soon enough but it won't end. Not really. Gotham won't get over this, it will stay crazy forever now. So why should I fight to stay a sane observer in the chaos, praying it will all be over soon?'

Crane watched her, focused on her eyes as she spoke. The resolution he had found there first was changing, blooming into something unreadable in its complexity. She was angry, excited, hurt, ambitious and anxious all at once.

'The whole city will be looking for you soon,' she continued, 'and all your hired goons are gone. I can help you.'

'Help me? What could a pitiful creature like you do to help the Master of Fear?'

'Oh, I could do plenty.'

Crane stared for what felt like an eternity. The toxin's effects were becoming so much a part of his reality that he paid them no notice. Terror could do nothing to harm him now.

'You have nowhere to go from here,' she told him, her voice softer, imploring, 'let me help you and we can seize _everything_. Get rid of the gangs, take over city hall...'

'Enough!' Crane screeched, causing his horse to rear up in shock. 'I have heard enough.'

He said nothing more, and she knew she had won. With a small smirk, she forced her hand onto his, pulling herself onto the horse behind him. She was like a shadow, lurking on his heels. He had no need for her, not really, but something about her fearlessness made it impossible to turn her away.

'So, _Scarecrow_, huh?'

'And what am I to call you now you've turned your back on the old life?'

'A guy I used to know had a name for me I kind of liked,' she stated, 'it was Harley Quinn.'


End file.
